A mail insertion system or a “mailpiece inserter” is commonly employed for producing mailpieces intended for mass mail communications. Such mailpiece inserters are typically used by organizations such as banks, insurance companies and utility companies for producing a large volume of specific mail communications where the contents of each mailpiece are directed to a particular addressee.
In many respects, a typical inserter resembles a manufacturing assembly line. Sheets and other raw materials (i.e., a web of paper stock, enclosures, and envelopes) enter the inserter system as inputs. Various modules or workstations in the inserter system work cooperatively to process the sheets until a finished mail piece is produced. The precise configuration of each inserter system depends upon the needs of each customer or installation.
Typically, inserter systems prepare mall pieces by arranging preprinted sheets of material into a collation, i.e., the content material of the mail piece, on a transport deck. The collation of preprinted sheets may continue to a chassis module where additional sheets or inserts may be added based upon predefined criteria, e.g., an insert being sent to addressees in a particular geographic region. Once filled, the envelopes are closed, sealed, weighed, and sorted. A postage meter may then be used to apply postage indicia based upon the weight and/or size of the mail piece. The mailpieces will then be moved to a stacker where mailpieces are collected and stacked, either on edge or laid flat.
In one particular implementation of an inserter system, a plastic card, such as a credit card, a membership card, or the like, is included in the mail collation. In such systems, individual cards are removed from a stack of cards to be attached to sheets of paper that are them folded and included in a mail collation. Cards are typically held in place on the sheets by an adhesive that is deposited on the sheet upstream of the card feeder location.
Before they are attached to the sheets, the cards are checked to make sure that they conform to the intended mail piece. If the card cannot be properly read, or if it is damaged, or if it appears to be out of sequence, then, rather than shutting down the inserter system, the individual card can be diverted away from normal processing and collected in a reject bin. Alternatively, a problem with some other part of the mail piece might make it necessary to divert the plastic card.
Since rejected cards must be periodically emptied from the reject bin, there is a need to provide a safe and efficient means for an operator to get access to the cards, so that the bin does not overflow. In a typical arrangement, the operator would need to open the covers of the inserter system in order to get access to the bin. Opening the covers on this type of equipment exposes the operator to moving parts that could cause an injury. Alternatively, the system can be paused while such an operation is carried out.